The Man from Elysian Fields

Rating:
Summary: Quite enjoyable
Review: This movie started slow but became quite engrossing. I really liked it. It was sad not in a tearful way, but it was sad to see what Andy Garcia's character thought he had to do to make money to support his family and to have to go through the inevitable consequenses. Mick Jagger was surprisingly good in this and so was James Coburn (I think it was either his last or one of his last roles). It's not a movie that I'd watch over and over and over again, but it's still enjoyable and worth looking at.

Rating:
Summary: Acting good-plot awful
Review: This movie was about an author who wasn't making any money writing and when his book Hitler's Child ended up in the bargain bin he decided to compensate his income by becoming a male prostitute. He never stopped to wonder what he would tell his wife about where he went every night. By some grand coincidence he became the lover of a famous author's wife, when James Coburn's Viagra let him down. (Mick Jaggar, James Coburn and a cameo apprearance by Angelica Houston were wasted on this drivel.)

To watch this movie you have to suspend belief. It was hard enough to believe a gutsy old author would pay a man to sleep with his wife under his own roof and pay for it, let alone burst in on them to chat about trivia. A man with any pride would surely say, take it to a motel.

But anyway, our poor hero soon found that as a male hustler he didn't get no respect. He got skrewed by the author and his wife in more ways than one. He was soon helping the sick husband hone his final masterpiece and got cheated when his name didn't appear on the book as coauthor. This guy, being an author, surely had heard of a legal contract!

Then his wife found his "calling card" from the escort service. It made one wonder why he didn't have the good sense to hide it! She left him and he had to get a job as a waiter. As if there wouldn't be other moonlighting job options for struggling writers besides whore and waiter. Hasn't the man ever heard of telemarketing? Thats the way most of us jaded authors make a living.

The most absurd part is he then he wrote a "bestseller" about losing his wife and there were people lined up for miles to buy it with tears in their eyes. What was hillarious was at the end he was reading an excerpt of writing so corny it made you laugh. If his first book had ended up in the bargain bin, so would that one! I'd have rather read that first literary abortion of his, Hitler's Child. At least it might have had some kind of a plot, which is more than I can say for The Man From Elysian Fields.

Rating:
Summary: Full of contradictions; suspend belief and watch it, anyway
Review: To begin with, Mick Jagger, James Coburn (especially James Coburn), and Andy Garcia turn in solid performances. The mood and cinematography are befittingly noir, the ironic nuances clever, the opening scenes reasonably realistic, the middle ... most of it needs that you suspend belief, and the ending, after a brief foray into reality, is unacceptably schmaltzy.

That said, I do recommend this film. After all, we know that truth can be stranger than fiction, and you deal with the contradictions here by labeling them as "allegorical." Besides, this IS a cautionary tale, not only for authors and artists, but for everyone. Firstly, accept that in the Arts, it's not the best man who wins but the luckier one, and second, never take anyone's promise just by his/her word, but oh! do secure that CONTRACT SIGNED AND SEALED in front of witnesses and notary. Byron the down-on-his-luck author gets royally screwed by the person for whom he is paid to do that to her in bed. Spoiler? No. Because just this part alone (how Byron gets cheated by the beautiful, icy, Andrea) makes it worth watching to absorb the lesson.

I bought MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS because of the reviews I read here --- and... now comes the big confession: because I too am an author. Got five published novels, even readers in far off New Zealand and Turkey, as feathers on my cap, and am of course broke a la Byron the Author; so how could I ever not purchase this film?

As I've said earlier, MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS opens realistically enough. Byron has published a novel which, though well received by critics, has ended up in the bargain bin due to lackluster sales, there is no immediate hope for a second book contract, and financially he is in deep you-know-what. Now the plot loses credibility because Byron is presented as so desperate for money that he accepts work as a "well-paid escort to women, in and out of bed." Byron is married, loves his wife, and doesn't want to cheat on her; Garcia plays this part convincingly. It is the director and the writers who don't give us, the viewers, enough reason to believe that he is doing this out of desperation. True, many authors (as pointed out by another reviewer further down the line here) work as waiters, tele-marketers (ah, but many telemarketing jobs are getting outsourced to other countries), or ad agency copy-writers. In fact, Byron too has worked in an ad agency and lost his job because of a dispute with his boss. Still, there are other jobs out there, and the writers do not show him as trying long and hard enough to find something more suited than working for the escort service.

What I found believable, however, is that Byron did co-write a book with the famous author Tobias Alcott (played by James Coburn) whom he'd admired from afar until the day serendipity placed them in each other's orbit, without the benefit of a contract. The character of Pulitzer winner Tobias Alcott is quite well-drawn, he is the true hero of this movie, an honorable, sophisticated man who loves his wife more than his own male ego, who looks death in the eye with such a natural grace that he not only commands your respect, but of course, your trust... and I'm afraid that I, too, would have trusted him and written that book with him without the contract....

So, over all, this is a good film, and Mick Jagger's acting is better than good, a suitable match to James Coburn's stellar delivery. When you're finished viewing this film, you'll be wondering: Did Byron have no recourse, could he not have contested Tobias' sole authorship of this book? Fact is, he had the original files, we saw him work on the book at home, on his computer... and then comes an even more difficult question: What of Tobias? Was he the mastermind of the plot to cheat Byron? Yes indeed I do recommend MAN FROM THE ELYSIAN FIELDS, it makes you think long after you turn off your VCR or DVD player. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A Big Surprise
Review: Unfortunately, this film didn't get the run it deserved in the theaters. That said, everyone I know who has seen it has something good to say about it. Considering its subject matter, the film is actually just an old fashioned love story.

The leads are all perfectly cast but it is Mick Jagger who is the true revelation in all of this. He gives a "best supporting actor" performance.

Its too bad the Academy Awards basically ignore smaller films that do not have the financial backing to buy, er, win an Oscar.

Rating:
Summary: The Man from Elysian Fields
Review: Very thought-provoking with regards to relationships and what we will do to sustain our livelihoods and keeping up our image and excellent performances by Mick Jagger, James Coburn, and especially Andy Garcia. Definitely worth owning and well worth renting it.

Rating:
Summary: Writer's Blockhead
Review: Well, let's see. When his first novel (entitled "Hitler's Child") fails to generate sales and his publisher refuses to print his second book, what is a starving writer to do?

Work for a male escort service, of course!

As goofy as this premise is, THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS actually delivers a compelling story that is both fun and painful to watch. Unable to get his old job back and desperately strapped for cash, hard luck novelist Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) is lured by the seductive enticement of "easy money" as an escort for Elysian Fields, a playground for rich, neglected housewives. Problem is, there's nothing "easy" about Byron's new career, and this character learns lesson after lesson--about himself, about the importance of his marriage--via a very unforgiving school of hard knocks.

The tragic irony of this film manifests itself over and over. By trying to provide for and protect his family, Byron's poor decision to join Elysian only serves to destroy it. And naturally--irony of ironies--Byron's best client is the exotic, beautiful Andrea Alcott (Olivia Williams), who just happens to be married to Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Tobias Alcott (played wonderfully by James Coburn). The ailing Tobias seeks Byron's aid to rewrite his last novel; the young writer eagerly agrees; the stage is set for dismal, heartbreaking disappointment (should have insisted on a written contract, dude).

Garcia is so soft-spoken and restrained in this role, even after getting knocked down again and again, that I--unlike some of the reviewers here--actually was relieved when he finally unleashed some anger and frustration by trashing the wardrobe room at Elysian Fields. I'll bet the character felt better; I know I did.

Mick Jagger as the articulate, whiskey-sipping proprietor of Elysian Fields was an unexpected and delightful surprise. The ending was a bit uneven and sappy, but entirely predictable. For all you struggling writers out there, I would recommend you forego becoming an escort and pick something safer. Sword swallowing comes to mind.
--D. Mikels

Rating:
Summary: SLEEPER
Review: WHAT A NICE SURPRISE. I NEVER HEARD OF THE MOVIE. AFTER VIEWING IT I WONDERED WHY. MARGUILLES IS FANTASTIC. IT SHOULD BE ON MANY TOP TEN LISTS.

Rating:
Summary: A real sleeper!
Review: What senior citizen is interested in a movie with Mick Jagger?! My wife and I weren't, but there was anything else worth seeing at the time. What a surprise!! We went away feeling that this was one of the top movies of the year. Jagger was cast perfectly, as were Huston, Garcia and Coburn. Their performances enhanced a great story line, and the dialogue between Coburn and Garcia was particularly heart warming, as we saw the movie shortly after Coburn's death. In spite of all the unhappiness portrayed in the movie, we were uplifted by how much we enjoyed it -- so much so that it is one of very few movies that we have purchased for our library rather than plan to rent.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: With all the same old tripe passing for blockbusters a movie lover has to wade through these days, seeing movies like this make it all worthwhile. A stellar cast, absolutely great performances, and wonder of wonders, something different in the way of a plot.
So if you love drama and superb acting, including the revelation that Mick Jagger is quite talented as an actor, thank you very much, you should really like this movie. AND, if like me, you think actually getting to watch superbly acted drama with a totally original plot is something that maybe happens once a year, and only then if you average seeing a drama movie a week, you should love it.
Of course, if you read all the reviews before you saw the film, you may have analyzed it to death like some of the other poor souls and missed out on all the fun, even if you're not normally the kind of person who wastes a lot of time doing that. Too bad. I'm sure glad I waited until afterwards. I've found that's the best way, because us drama lovers would do well to remember that there are many people who just don't like drama.

Rating:
Summary: Hey, Mick Jagger is Fun!
Review: Yes, the only reason I went to see "The Man from Elysian Fields" is because I HAD to see what a Mick Jagger movie would be like. I know he made a movie many years ago called "Fitzcarraldo" and I believe his notices were good for that, but never having seen that opus, I said, "Alright, TutorGal, let's go to it!"

This is a somewhat surprising movie because it does feature many strong performances, Mick's among them. He owns an escort service called Elysian Fields and one day manages to entice down-on-his-luck writer Andy Garcia to sign on. Garcia's the actual star of the movie, but I've got to admit my interests lay with Mick and with another supporting player, James Coburn. Garcia finds himself having to "service" the years-younger wife of Coburn. He's an old Hemingway-esque writer, who's working on one last book and permits the young wife to amuse herself since he's too sick to do much of that kind of thing anymore. Garcia connects with him on a writing level, so here we have a rather uneasy almost menage a trois situation. A further complication is that Garcia is a married man, and his wife is starting to ask a lot of questions rather angrily.

The film is an interesting turn on the usual "woman who has to turn tricks to support her REAL lifestyle" type of story, if such a type can be said to be usual. Garcia does a good job of portraying the degradation he feels in this emasculating experience of being considered only for his body and his sexuality. And poor Mick, bless him, has a role somewhat like Belle Watling in "Gone with the Wind", the male madam who's in unrequited love with his best customer, wealthy Anjelica Huston. He's just such a weird persona in real life, Mick, that the whole experience of watching him act as this urbane kept man is fascinating.

Why three stars and not more? Well, notwithstanding The Mick and even the feisty job by Coburn, it IS a seedy sort of film and made me feel bad. I think it's a type of women's power fantasy against men. You can watch it and see what you make of it. Let's just put it this way: If the mythical Elysian Fields were really like this, a lot more of the ancient Greeks would have been atheists.